institutionalfinance

Catholic University of America has eliminated 37 positions through buyouts and layoffs, The Washington Post reported. The university is trying to cut costs in the wake of declining enrollment in its law school and architecture school.

A report being issued today by Moody’s finds that the wealthiest American colleges and universities are getting wealthier at a faster rate than other institutions, The Wall Street Journalreported. This is largely a continuation of a longtime trend. The wealthiest institutions are elite universities that attract large donations and use sophisticated investment strategies that rarely are available to institutions with small endowments. The new Moody's report says the wealthiest 10 universities in fiscal 2014 held almost one-third of cash and investments at four-year colleges and universities, while the top 40 had two-thirds.

Ohio State University at Newark is planning to eliminate varsity athletics programs, The Newark Advocate reported. Officials cited the need to cut costs at a time of declining state support. The university currently has six varsity teams.

Lawmakers tout improvements tied to Florida's second year of performance-based funding. But is it a coincidence that the system punishes its campus most focused on liberal arts and the one most focused on serving low-income students?

George Washington University is laying off 46 administrative employees, The Washington Post reported. The move comes as the university moves to cut all administrative units by 5 percent to deal with lost revenue from a decline in graduate enrollment.

Previous gifts from the Rady Family Foundation helped to create the Rady School of Management at the University of California at San Diego. On Tuesday, the university announced a $100 million pledge from the foundation to, among other things, recruit and retain faculty members.

Advocates for keeping Sweet Briar College open held protests Friday and shared photographs of their actions on social media (at right). At the same time, many Sweet Briar students -- however upset that their college's board plans to shut it down -- are applying to transfer elsewhere. More than 200 have applied to Hollins University, also a women's college in Virginia, The Roanoke Times reported.

Grand Canyon University's chances of going private have dropped considerably, the Phoenix Business Journal reported based on an interview with the for-profit college's president. Brian Mueller told the Journal that there was less than a 50 percent chance of the publicly traded company going private or nonprofit. Shareholders refused to accept buyouts to convert the publicly traded company. The company offered to buy out shares for 15 percent more than they're worth.

The University of Massachusetts System, like many colleges and universities, has used debt financing in recent years to add and renovate facilities. But an article in The Boston Globe raises questions about the impact of using so much debt. The current debt level is $3 billion. This year, the university will pay $203 million in debt and interest, up from $137 million five years ago.